Is the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Extinct? The Evidence

What was the ivory-billed woodpecker?

The ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was the largest woodpecker in the United States and one of the largest in the world, about 48–53 cm (19–21 in) long with a wingspan of about 76 cm (30 in). It was glossy black with bold white stripes on the neck, large white areas on the wings and a pale, ivory-colored bill. Males had a red crest; females had a black one.

It lived in the great bottomland hardwood forests and swamps of the southeastern United States, from eastern Texas to the Carolinas and Florida, and in the pine and hardwood forests of Cuba, where a separate subspecies lived. Using its chisel-like bill, it pried bark off recently dead trees to reach large beetle larvae.

Why did it disappear?

The ivory-bill needed huge areas of old forest with many big, recently dead trees. Between the late 1800s and the 1940s, nearly all the old-growth bottomland forests of the South were logged. Hunting added to the losses, since the birds were shot for food, for their striking bills and by collectors who prized rare specimens; museums today hold more than 400 skins.

By the 1930s, very few birds remained. A Cornell University team led by Arthur Allen found a small population in the Singer Tract, an old-growth forest in Madison Parish, Louisiana, and made the only universally accepted films and sound recordings of the species. Researcher James Tanner, who studied the birds there in 1937–1939, estimated that only about 22–24 ivory-bills were left in the whole United States. The Singer Tract was logged despite efforts to save it, and the last accepted US sighting was made there by the artist Don Eckelberry in April 1944.

The disputed sightings since 1944

Reports have continued for decades, especially from Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Texas and South Carolina. Many were certainly mistaken identifications of pileated or red-headed woodpeckers. The best-known cases:

The 2004 Arkansas report caused worldwide excitement. A team led by John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reported several sightings and a short, blurry video of a large woodpecker flying away. Other ornithologists, including the illustrator David Sibley, argued that the video could show a pileated woodpecker. Years of follow-up searches in the same forests found no further conclusive evidence.

What is the official status?

In September 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing the ivory-billed woodpecker from the endangered species list because it is extinct, alongside 22 other species. Some ornithologists and searchers objected, pointing to recent reports, and the agency held further comment periods. In 2023 it said it would continue to review the evidence before a final decision, so for now the bird remains listed as endangered.

Why pileated woodpeckers cause so much confusion

The pileated woodpecker is the only other large, crested, black-and-white woodpecker in the ivory-bill’s old range, and it is common in the same swamps. Seen briefly, a pileated can look very similar. The main differences:

The ivory-bill’s call was a nasal “kent”, often compared to a toy trumpet, and it drummed with a distinctive double knock. Both sounds can be imitated by other wildlife, such as blue jays, nuthatches and even colliding wings of flying ducks, which is one reason sound recordings alone have not settled the question.

Could it still survive?

Hope persists because the southern swamps are vast, hard to search and have partly regrown since the 1940s. Supporters argue that a few birds could live undetected in remote forests.

Skeptics point out that tens of thousands of hours of searching since 2004, with modern cameras, sound recorders and drones, have not produced a single unmistakable photograph. Rare birds in remote rainforests are routinely photographed, they note, and a large, conspicuous woodpecker that once fed in pairs should eventually be documented if it still existed. Most ornithologists now think the species has been lost.

If it is extinct, the ivory-bill joins the passenger pigeon and the Carolina parakeet among North American birds wiped out by habitat loss and hunting; see recently extinct animals for other species lost in modern times.